The Wisteria Lane Horrors, Book I: CAROL
by bloodrosered
Summary: A young girl named Carol White is placed in the home of Bree. She meets John Rowland, the gardener and they fall in love. A jealous Gabrielle plots to humiliate Carol. If only they knew she was telekinetic. M for TK violence & gore, language and sexuality
1. Episode 1

The Wisteria Lane Horrors

Book I: CAROL

"In the time of thine anger:

The LORD shall swallow the wicked up

In His wrath,

And the fire shall devour them."

-Psalm 21:9-10

Episode 1

WISTERIA LANE WRECKAGE

Destruction. It means total and utter chaos and devastation. There are many types of destruction, most of them are natural like a tornado, hurricane, or earthquake. In suburbia, destruction is something that rarely happens.

Until today…

Black smoke rises in the gray sky, the smell of death is everywhere, houses have been burned to the ground, live wires and cables are ripped loose, spitting purple and white sparks, cars and trucks are flipped over and completely destroyed, fire hydrants have been stripped, the water pressure has dropped severely, the grass and flowers are burned, and the lovely trees that line the street are burned, making them look like huge black hands. Silence is everywhere, not a person in sight, except for the town police, firefighters, paramedics, and the medical examiner. Roadblocks are all around this suburban street with the sign:

DANGER: LIVE WIRES! KEEP OUT!

This is all that remains of Wisteria Lane. It was destroyed.

This kind of destruction, however, was not the result of a natural destruction.

It was a fire that never should have happened in the first place. No one knows the exact cause of the fire on Wisteria Lance since evidence is very few in this case.

The residents of Wisteria Lane lost their homes in the fire, the death toll was high; most of them hadn't reached the age of 18. Some bodies are missing and more show up, most of them cannot be identified. The surviving residents have evacuated the town when it was burning.

Among the following that survived the Wisteria Lane fire was our ladies: Bree Van De Kamp, Susan Mayer, Gabrielle Solis, and Lynette Scavo.

Only Bree Van DeKamp seems to know the answer of what happened the day Wisteria Lane burned.

"It was Carol White," said Bree at the interview. "I'm almost certain it was her. It happened almost two, three months ago. I had an argument with her when she was out late past her curfew. When I told her what the curfew was, she screamed, 'FINE!' and suddenly, the armoire that held my fine china and silverware jerked sideways, smashing my fine china and the silverware jangled in the drawers. It had moved four inches from where it was originally standing. I measured it…armoires don't just move four inches from where it stood by itself. This was something totally unnatural, something you know that isn't supposed to happen…and what just happened, was indeed, unnatural…"

According to the social worker file on Carol White, she was placed in the care of Bree Van DeKamp about two to three months before Wisteria Lane burned. It was said that she was removed from the care of her mother, Regina White, who was incarcerated in a mental institution for first-degree murder after catching her husband, Daniel checking his secretary's oil from his job: a contract worker. It was said that Carol witnessed this murder: her mother was holy roaring about sin and sluts and strumpets and how they were going to hell, then she took out a knife and stabbed both her father and his secretary multiple times, praying the Lord's Prayer.

Carol was about sixteen when this happened.

Carol was only to meet her doom when she met John Rowland, Mrs. Gabrielle Solis's gardener who she cheats on her husband, Carlos Solis. He is currently in jail for assaulting the cable guy, thinking he was having an affair with his wife, finding out he was gay.

"He never made a mistake until she met her," said Mrs. Gabrielle Solis, her head held high proudly. "She got what she deserved."

We investigated further on the night Wisteria Lane was burned. Her alibi was she was at home all day. We cannot hold her responsible for what happened because all the evidence at the high school, where the fire had originally started, has been destroyed. Witnesses who survived at the prom are the only reliable evidence we have, otherwise, the case is still cold. We interviewed John, the gardener, who took Carol to the senior prom, the same night as the fire.

"Sure, she was strange," said John. "But she seemed so sad, so alone. I felt sorry for her. Mrs. Solis didn't like us hanging out. We would secretly go to the mall or the movies, just as friends…then, as I got to know her, I came to find that I liked her. She was different from the other girls. She didn't show off by wearing tiny clothes or anything…she was mysterious, like you'd want to know what she was like underneath all those big clothes she wore."

"Tell us about what happened at the prom," said the investigator.

"I've seen many horror movies that scared me so much that I couldn't sleep for three to four days," said John. "And for seventeen years, I ignored the existence of evil. But, that night at the prom, I saw evil; a horror that was too real for me and will haunt me for the rest of my life."

We still have questions about what made Carol White snap that night and why and how Wisteria Lane burned that night. Wisteria Lane still remains in ruins from the fire: families have been asked to evacuate their homes and go to the city and to stay in hotels until Wisteria Lane has been cleaned up.

We still don't know what happened that day. We still don't know why or how. All the evidence we have is from surviving witnesses and the evidence is destroyed from the fire. Our only evidence we need in order to solve this case is Carol White.

Carol White is missing…


	2. Episode 2

Episode 2

CAROL WHITE

When we investigated the night of the Wisteria Lane fire, we all asked ourselves this one question:

Who is Carol White?

Carol Elizabeth White was born September 13th, 1989 in a small suburban town outside of Fairview County. She was the only child of Daniel and Regina. Regina Norman (her then maiden name) met her husband, Daniel, at a religious convention. The two only dated for six months and they got married. Their parents didn't like the fact that they had been dating for such a short period of time that they decided to get married. It was too soon for them! They had barely known each other. Daniel was a contractor and Regina worked at the Laundromat: they were such an unlikely pair.

Carol was concieved two months after they had gotten married.

When Carol entered pre-K, her teacher, Linda Mazzurato, was concerned. She noticed that the girl was too quiet, socially withdrawn, and she wasn't interested in being social with the other children. She reported to the principal, Benjamin Harding that she suspected that the child was being abused. An investigation was made at the Whites and they found no signs of abuse: not at home or on the child.

"It looked like a safe environment," said the investigator. "The house was in working order, it was clean. A lot of religious stuff, I'm afraid. But, otherwise, safe."

Were they wrong!

After years of marriage, Carol began to notice her father's behavior had changed: he would leave for work early and not come home until late at night. She suspected that something was going on. Her mother, however, never noticed it. She assumed, in blissful ignorance, that her husband was just working hard. When Carol came home from school early one day, she heard moans and unintelligible noises coming from her parents' bedroom and she peeked in and saw her father in bed with a young blonde woman, twisted in the sheets.

Carol had been right all along that her father was up to something. She never told her mother about her father's unfaithfulness until she found out when she walked in on her husband and his lover, sleeping in bed together. That's when she got the butcher knife, hid it in the folds of her dress, went up the stairs and stabbed her husband and his secretary, Jenna Hunter to death. Carol had witnessed it all.

When the police arrived after receiving a call about a domestic disturbance, they found the house a wreck: the couch was thrown through the wall, the kitchen table was found outside in the yard after being hurled through a window, plates, glasses and mugs were smashed, silverware, pots and pans were flung all over the place, the drawers were ripped out, the refrigerator was turned over, food was spilt all over the floor, the pipes were ripped through the walls, spraying water and the place was flooded, the beds were overturned, along with the dead bodies of Mr. White and his secretary, Jenna Hunter.

"All we could think was," said Detective Lee Byron. "'What the hell could've done this?'"

When the police interrogated Mrs. White at the house, they asked her who could've wrecked the house.

"It's her!" she screamed, pointing a finger accusingly at Carol. "It's her, I tell you. That Satan spawn, that Devil's child! She's a witch! Witch! It says in the Lord's book, 'thou shalt not suffer a witch to live'…"

When the girl was interrogated, Carol said nothing. She couldn't remember anything about wrecking the house. Mrs. White was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and incarcerated at a mental institution because, at her trial and quoted,

"The Angel of the Lord appeared to me with a flaming sword, saying we must cast the wicked into the fiery pit of eternal damnation where my husband and his whore will be now and forever."

Carol was to be placed in a foster home in a suburban town of Fairview.

Carol White sat in the front seat with her bags packed in a single suitcase with her social worker, Violet Burman. She stared out the window, counting the trees that she passed by. Carol had turned seventeen on the day her mother was convicted of first-degree murder. She was about 5'3 3/4'', dull blonde hair from being inside all the time; her eyes were a dark mahogany that almost seemed to cast shadows underneath her eyes. She was pale from being inside, but her body size was average. She wore a long sleeved sweater, a skirt that was a 50's A-line style that came to her shins. Sweat already began to form under her arms and on the backs of her legs. It was already a warm spring in March.

"I'm sure you'll like Mrs. Van de Kamp," said Violet. "She's a really nice lady."

Carol wondered what her new home would be like. She was told about a woman named Bree Van de Kamp who had just lost her husband, Rex (God rest his soul) a couple months ago and she has two children, Andrew and Danielle, both were teenagers. Carol imagined Bree as one of those Mom's that she had seen in magazines where everyone is happy and cheerful with a dog or a cat in the family and the house looked like something that came out of Home and Gardens magazine (a magazine Mother always read).

"You'll be starting school at Fairview High," said Violet. "I'm told from your old school that you should be graduating this year, is that right?"

"Yes," replied Carol, quietly.

The last school Carol had attended Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic School.

The car turned onto an elaborate sign that said WISTERIA LANE. There were nice houses lined up all on the street next to each other. Colors of goldenrod, blue, yellow, green, gray. There were pretty flowers in gardens or growing on trellises, green lawns that were smooth and mowed frequently like those on a golf course. Children rode their bikes, played hop-scotch, jumped rope while teens got into their cars and drove away while adults did yard work, went on jogs or bike rides, got their mail or newspaper or socialized with neighbors. 

(this seems nice)

"Well, here we are," said Violet.

Carol turned her head and stared at her new home. The yard looked like something out of Home and Gardens or Martha Stewart magazine: the flowerbeds were perfect, the lawn was mowed, not a single weed in the walkway, the hedges trimmed neatly, and the trees stood tall. The house was colonial, painted blue on top with a brick bottom with a white shudders, a white door and a brass knocker, door latch and handle and a doorbell, all standing beneath a white colonial style porch. There was a brick path that led to a white mailbox with twin brick structures that contained brass street lights on top. Twin trees in wood pots, painted white, were in interesting shapes.

Violet and Carol walked up the path to Mrs. Van de Kamp's house. Once she arrived to the door, the brass knocker had engraved on it in elaborate cursive letters: the Van de Kamps. Violet pressed her forefinger into the glowing circle shaped doorbell and it made a sweet ding-dong sound. A couple minutes later, the door opened. A woman stood in the doorway with a smile on her face. This was Bree Van de Kamp.

She was a woman in her 40s, with red hair and bulging sapphire eyes, a pinched porcelain face with pink lips that had a confident, warming smile. She wore color coordinated clothes: blue button-up sweater that covered her breasts, making them look small with khakis and loafers. She wore a string of pearls on her neck and matching stud earrings. Her hands had some signs of house labor; her engagement and wedding rings were missing, however.

"Hello," she said, her voice sounded very friendly and agreeable. "I'm Bree Van de Kamp. You must be Carol White." She held a hand out to Carol, which she accepted it and shook it. The hand was warm with some signs of hardness from labor, but was smoothed with hand lotion. "Welcome to my home. Please come in. I've prepared tea for you and your social worker, Violet."

They stepped inside her lovely home. Carol stared with awe at the beautiful interior of the house.

"Please," said Bree. "Feel free to look around, Carol. I have to talk to your social worker."

Carol watched them disappear into the living room and she heard their voices get softer. Carol put her suitcase down and walked slowly, looking for pictures of wrathful scenes or crucifixes that had gory Corpus Christis or sayings about sinners or Judgment day. She found none. There was only a tranquil painting of Jesus and His Sacred Heart glowing red with passion of love, some small crucifixes that were normal looking, and a photo of Ronald Reagan, one of the US Presidents. The house was simple looking, clean and yet; it had a feeling of emptiness. There was a family photo above the mantle of Bree's family. There was a wedding photo resting on a small table near the entrance of the dining room: a man with black hair, holding Bree's hand, looking at her wedding ring. Her dressed in a white gown and an elaborate veil while he wore a black tuxedo. The dining room had a huge mahogany table lined with a white table cloth and in the center were candlesticks and a vase of flowers, neatly decorated as a centerpiece.

There were matching chairs with white cushions. There was an armoire that held fine cream colored china and hand blown wine glasses, crystal champagne glasses, cream color napkins that were neatly folded and silver! Oh! The silverware gleamed in the sunlight as though it had been polished with perfection.

Carol went into the kitchen and saw it was yellow with copper pots hanging over the counter, which were marble. The floor was wood and the fridge was a stainless steel as well as the stove. The sink was an old fashioned sink as though it was taken from the 1700s.

She turned back to the living room where Bree and Violet were talking and drinking coffee. Carol peeked in, careful not to eavesdrop.

(that's it pretend to be invisible no one will notice)

"Oh!" said Bree, seeing Carol. "Carol. Come on in. We're just about finished with your paper work."

Violet put the papers in her briefcase and closed it shut and got up off the couch. She stopped next to Carol.

"If you have any questions or concerns," she said. "Here's my card. Give me a call." Violet handed her a card that had her name and number on it.

Violet left, closing the door behind her.

"Well, Carol," said Bree. "I'm so glad you're going to be part of my family. You'll spend the night in the guest room."

"OK," she said. She picked up her suitcase and followed Bree upstairs. She opened Danielle's door and stepped into a white room with a beautiful floral quilt and a wooden headboard. Carol set her suitcase on the floor and lay it down like one would as if it were a bureau. Bree returned with a sleeping bag for Carol and laid it on the floor for her.

"I'll be downstairs making dinner," said Bree. "You can just settle down while I go make dinner."

"Can I help you with anything?" Carol asked.

Bree stopped in her tracks, stunned and speechless. A teenager asking to help? It was unheard of! Her own children didn't even ask or were never willing to help her around the house.

"Of...Of course," she stammered. "There's a load of laundry in the dryer. I'll show you where that is. Just fold it and put it in the basket and I'll put it away."

"Oh no!" said Carol. "I'll be happy to put it away for you. Just tell me what clothes belong to whom and where their room is and I'll put them away."

Bree was overwhelmed with joy. She couldn't help but smile.

"Fine," she said. "I'm making lemon chicken. Is that alright?"

"Of course," said Carol. "I don't mind cuisine. My own mother used to prepare cuisine. I'm quite used to it."

The two of them went downstairs to do chores. Bree showed Carol where the dryer and washer were and Carol took the clothes out of the dryer and folded them neatly. Bree watched as she peeled the potatoes as Carol folded the clothes and towels. Bree's dream finally came true. All her life she wanted perfect children...but her children, Andrew and Danielle, didn't really turn out as perfect as she had hoped or wanted them to be. And now, a stranger that she barely knew, had come into her house, only to realize she is the ideal perfect child: obedient, willing to help, polite, never complained, and loves cuisine.

"I'll help you with dinner once I put these clothes away, Mrs. Van de Kamp," said Carol.

"Thank you," she said. "I'd appreciate it, Carol. I would also appreciate it if you called me Bree."

Carol smiled. "OK...Bree."

Carol loved her new friend. Bree was such a nice lady. She was nothing like Mother. Even though she had values, at least her religious beliefs weren't extreme like Mother's was: dragging the screaming, crying girl to the broom closet to pray for her 'sin' or repeating quotes from the Bible and whatever. Memories came back to her from her old life:

(go to your closet and pray)

(i don't wanna go to the closet!)

Being grabbed by the wrists across the floor to the kitchen, screaming unintelligible 'no's and kicking in a childlike manner and Mother's voice of incomprehensive words of 'Pray, woman! Pray for your sin. Let Jesus wash away your sins!' Slaps across the face that still stung, the images of the impaled Corpus Cristi in the broom closet, bleeding profusely in gory detail. What nightmares it gave her! The clothes she was forced to wear: long sweaters, skirts, knee socks, and odd shoes that no one wore anymore.

Carol went back downstairs to help Bree make dinner.

"Carol?" said Bree. "Do you attend church? I'm a Baptist, so does that bother you to attend a different church from what you attend?"

Carol wanted to tell Bree that Mother and Daddy thought that Baptists were the anti-Christs, but she let it slide. Mother and Daddy did attend church on Sundays, but most of the time, the masses were held at her house.

Mother and Daddy the priest and Carol the congregation.

"No," said Carol. "I don't mind."

Carol found herself getting more attached to Bree as she listened to her tell stories about recipes, her new ideas, and such.

"Do you miss your husband?" asked Carol. She regretted asking that.

The second Bree heard her say 'husband', it brought back memories of Rex, her now-deceased husband. He died from a heart attack several months ago. Now, she was a lonely widow, constantly drinking wine. Tears welled up in her big sapphire eyes. She took the corner of her apron to wipe away her tears; black mascara and eye makeup ran down her pale cheeks.

"I'm sorry," said Carol. "I didn't mean to upset you about your husband. I know you lost him several months ago. I know what it's like to lose someone you love."

"Thank you, Carol," said Bree.

"If you need a friend, I'll be your friend," said Carol.

"Oh!" said Bree. "Thank you. You are such a sweet girl, Carol. You don't know how grateful I am to have you as a friend."

Yes, it is important to have a friend when you're alone in the world. Someone who is there to listen in good times, bad times, and all other times, someone who will understand someone who will comfort you.

A friend is someone we all need in life.


	3. Episode 3

Episode 3

THE FIRST SHADOW

Writing a letter is a good way to communicate, whether it is an invitation, a thank you, a get-well soon, an 'I'm sorry', writing to people who live far away, telling someone what is going on in life: accomplishments, failures, dreams and plans for the future.

Carol, however, would never write to her mother.

"Well, why don't you?" said Bree. "I know she murdered your father, but she's still your mother. She must be lonely in that institution. Don't you want her to know what's going on in your life?"

"Not really," said Carol, reluctantly. "She'll probably just tell me to read some chapter in the Bible or something. Or she'll just tell me that I sinned this or that."

"Why would she say that?" Bree said, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, you'd have to meet her to know her better."

"Come on, Carol," said Bree. "If you write to her, I guarantee you she'll feel better. She'll know that you care about her and that you miss her. It'll take away her loneliness."

Perhaps Bree was right. It was probably lonely in the mental institution with loonies that didn't know what they were doing or what world they lived in, hearing voices, seeing things that weren't there, plans to escape, etc. Carol got out a pen and paper and began to write:

_Dear Mother,_

_ I miss you. I think you must be lonely in St. Dymphna's Mental Institution, that's why I decided to write._

_I want you to know how life is for you. I'll tell you mine: Bree Van de Kamp is a nice lady. I think you and her would make great friends: you're both religious and have traditional values and you're both widows. I enjoy helping her around the house with chores like laundry, making meals, sewing, polishing silverware, gardening, and so forth. Her house looks like something out of Home and Gardens Magazine: so neat and clean and glimmering with perfection. _

_ Bree has two children: Andrew and Danielle. Andrew, as I found out, has a gay lover. I don't really mind that he's gay. Danielle has lots of boyfriends. I don't mind that either. I think Bree doesn't like the fact that Andrew is gay. I don't think she knows about Danielle. I don't really talk to them that much, not that I don't like them, but I find Bree more fun to be with than Danielle or Andrew._

_ Bree took me shopping for new clothes and shoes. I got my ears pierced as well. I'm going to start school at Fairview High. I can't wait. I'll be graduating this year. I hope you can come to my graduation. I'm going to be looking for a part-time job here on Wisteria Lane to make money so I can go to college. I love life as it is._

_ Carol_

She folded the letter in three, placed it in an envelope, licked the sticky glue and sealed it and stuck a stamp on the upper right hand corner and wrote on the upper left corner:

CAROL WHITE

4354 WISTERIA LANE

FAIRVIEW

And on the front, she wrote:

REGINA WHITE

INMATE 378006709

ST. DYMPHNA PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL FOR CRIMINALLY INSANE

ROOM 5E

1246 WEST MAPLE BOULEVARD

FAIRVIEW

She went downstairs to put the letter in the mailbox when she heard voices coming from the living room. She saw there were three other women sitting in Bree's living room: two brunettes: one in her forties appeared to be a tired, forty-year-old divorced mom and the other a beautiful late thirties Latina, but she seemed much younger. The other woman was a blonde that looked like a stay-at-home turned career mom. Carol didn't want to interrupt their social gathering so she pretended to be invisible and went to the door to go to the mail box.

"Oh, Carol!" said Bree.

Carol let out a startled, stupid sounding "Ohuh?!"

"Come and join us," said Bree. "I want you to meet my friends. I made coffee and blueberry muffins. Please sit with us."

"OK," said Carol. She sat down on the couch. All eyes were on her, making her feel uncomfortable.

"Carol," said Bree. "I would like you to meet my friends: Lynette Scavo," she gestured to the blonde career-mom. "Susan Mayer," the 40-year-old divorced mom. "And Gabrielle Solis." The late-thirties Latina. To the girls, she said, "I'd like to introduce Carol White. She'll be staying with me for quite a while. Her mother is…uh…away for a while."

"Oh," said Susan. "What for?"

"Susan!" said Bree, afraid that Carol might be insulted.

"No," said Carol. "It's OK, Bree. I don't mind." She answered Susan's question, telling about how her mother was arrested for murdering her father and how she's currently living in a mental institution instead of prison because the court believes that her mother is crazy. The ladies thought that it would be a good time to change the subject.

"So, Carol," asked Lynette. "I heard this is your last year at high school. Do you have any plans after graduation?"

"Yes," she said. "I would like to get a job somewhere in town to earn money for college. I'm thinking of going into fashion designing. I really like to sew and design clothes."

Gabrielle's eyes lit up. Fashion! Ah, how she remembered fashion. Wearing new clothes and modeling them on a cat walk in NY.

"Really?" said Gabrielle. "You know, I used to be a model."

"Wow!" she said. "No wonder you're so beautiful, Mrs. Solis."

Gabrielle was flattered.

"Do you still model?"

"Not anymore," said Gabrielle. "I got married and left the city and moved here."

"Oh," Carol said, disappointed.

"You know, I might have a job for you. I'm looking to hire a new maid because I had to fire our last one. I could pay you $300 a week if you work for me."

Carol couldn't believe it. $300 a week! That was $15,000 a year! That would be just enough to get into college.

"OK," said Carol.

"Good," said Gabrielle. "We should meet tomorrow after school to discuss your schedule."

"OK," said Carol. "Thank you for offering this job, Mrs. Solis."

Gabrielle smiled. "You're very welcome."

The next day, Carol started school. She was so excited. She put on her new clothes that Bree had bought for her at the mall last weekend. She was glad to be going to school. Nobody there would know her. There would be no laughers, no pointers, no whisperers, no jokers, no 'Saint Carol' like they used to call her at Sacred Heart of Mary's Catholic School. People stared at the newcomer, Carol who smiled as confidently as she could. She was really glad that nobody here knew her. Today she would start with a clean slate, turn over a new leaf...

"Hey," said a voice behind her. Carol turned around and there was a pretty girl with blonde hair and green eyes. "Are you Carol White from Sacred Heart of Mary's?"

"Yes," she replied. Before she could say anything to the girl, she had ran to her friends and whispered something and then...the laughter had begun...

(o god o god no no no!!!)

Yes, the laughter had come back!!! Now everybody at Fairview High would know it was Saint Carol White: the weirdly religious girl who couldn't do anything because everything was a sin; couldn't wear clothes that showed skin, couldn't go out with friends, couldn't go to the dances, and couldn't do anything!

(no no no !!!!)

Everything was coming back, every horrible chapter in Carol's book of life: grade school: the time she got down on her knees and prayed during lunch time. At thirteen, she got her

first period in the shower and thought she was bleeding to death while the girls yelled obscenities at her, dumping tampons and sanitary napkins and the ultimate humiliation: opening her locker and tampons spilled out of it at her feet

And EVERYBODY saw and LAUGHED AND LAUGHED!!! The time she had a seizure at fifteen and told everyone she was speaking in tongues...her nickname: Saint Carol. The big nun street clothes she had to wear, covering every inch of her body, being excused from classes when they taught subjects like evolution, sexuality, and politics; the pointing, the whispering, the laughing...

Suddenly, opened lockers slammed shut. People jumped back and shrieked at the loud metallic clap noise they made as well as the speed that they closed at. Carol blinked her eyes.

The sound startled her too. Something had happened. Something...

The rest of the day, Carol decided that she would just have to put up with the teasing at her new school. She would just have to build an immunity to their laughing and teasing and just ignore them. They would surely slaughter her if she dared to wear her new clothes that Bree had bought her.

(i'll wear my long clothes just to keep the vultures happy)

Even though she was at a new school and people were still going to laugh at her, she knew one thing: Bree would never do things that Mother and Daddy would do to her: make her wear long clothes, Bree would allow her to go out and have fun like a normal teenager, no more being excused from classes that Mother and Daddy didn't want Carol being in because it taught sinful things, and she could shower with the other girls after gym class. No more reading the Bible, no more talk of the 'coming', no more praying in the broom closet under the stairs.

No more words like 'godless',' sin' or any bullshit religion. She was so free! Free as a bird!

Yet...why did she still feel like she was in a cage?

After her biology class, she went to her locker and ignored the laughter, the comments, and the jeers. Who cared what they thought? She was Bree's girl now. She arrived at her locker and found written on it:

SAINT CAROL: PRAY FOR A MIRACLE! YOU'RE GONNA NEED ONE!

Carol stared at it. What was that supposed to mean? She shrugged it off. She turned the dial on her lock and began to pull on the handle. She saw that people were forming a ring around her.

(huh? i'm just getting my backpack)

She tugged at the handle again. It was stuck. She pulled and pulled. She couldn't get her locker open.

"What the...?" Carol said quietly.

She gave it another hard pull and fell backwards on her butt. Everybody laughed when she fell. Ugly, twisted faces of laughter like an odd, grotesque painting swarmed in front of her eyes;

the colors went from normal colors to black and white to sepia to negative. Mouths open wide, smiles huge and big and the laughter was slow and ugly. Carol felt a rage building inside her.

It started as a small little flame inside that was burning slowly...waiting to explode...

Images appeared in her head...the red fire alarm with a latch that you could pull down...the daisy shaped nozzles of the sprinklers above, tasting metal and water...

Suddenly, the deafening sound of the fire alarm and the sprinklers went off. Everybody screamed: girls especially, screaming 'oh shit! My hair!' or 'my clothes!'

"Attention," said the principal's voice on the intercom. "Please remain calm and quiet and move quickly and quietly to your nearest exit."

Everybody ran to the exits, drenched from the sprinklers. Everybody went outside as far as they could from the school and soon, the red fire trucks arrived with firemen dressed in black and yellow coats and boots; the lights of the fire truck flashed red and white. Police cars pulled up, flashing lights of red and blue and policemen dressed in navy blue uniforms with patches of Fairview County and real badges.

Girls stood drenched, their shirts sticking to their flesh and their hair stuck to their skin while boys ogled at their figures that showed through their shirts and teachers threatened detentions if

anyone dared to talk again during this emergency.

Carol stood there, staring at the school, waiting for the firemen and policemen to come out. It almost seemed like they were in there for hours. She kept thinking about what had happened today: the lockers slamming shut, the fire alarm and the sprinklers. Perhaps she was just hallucinating. Just ghosts or shadows that were fooling her...but, why did she

see images of the fire alarm and the sprinklers when it happened? Strange things always happened when she was angry, scared, or stressed...things moved. Daddy's murder for example, how objects flew all over the place and now today, the fire alarms and the sprinklers. What was going on? This had never happened before. There were probably many memories of this happening...but they were just a blur.

"All right, everybody," said the principal, Richard Harper. "I have an announcement to make. The firemen have shut off the sprinklers. They say it was possible they went off because of a malfunction. However, the fire alarm was pulled. Now, I want all of you to tell me, in private, who pulled the fire alarm."

Silence.

"Come on, speak up. Who pulled the fire alarms?"

Still silence.

"Consider this a warning to whoever pulled the fire alarms because next time I won't be so easy on you. Now, let's return to our classrooms."

Groans of disappointment.

Gym class. Carol's least favorite subject. They were playing kickball today. The pitcher rolled the ball to her and she would keep missing when she tried to kick it. Everyone laughed or made comments like, "Is she retarded or something?" The pitcher was handsome with brown hair and green eyes; Carol could see the muscles swelling from his arms, legs and the chest beneath white shirt he wore. He laughed whenever she kept missing the ball. Carol couldn't stand the laughter or the comments anymore. She wished she could just kick the ball as far away as she could and everyone would stop making jokes or laughing at her.

"Miss, miss, miss, miss, miss!" yelled the pretty blonde that Carol had first met.

"Crystal!" yelled the gym teacher, Miss Dern, a pretty brunette with a good figure and muscled legs. "Knock it off!"

Crystal made a rude gesture when Miss Dern wasn't looking, then lipped 'miss'.

Carol watched as the pitcher rolled the ball to her and suddenly, she felt a spherical force inside the ball and kicked it with all her force that it well sailing at a suicidal speed and crashed into the pitcher's crotch. He let out a cry of pain and bent over while everybody stopped laughing and their smiles turned to looks of shock.

"RUN!!" yelled Miss Dern. And Carol ran and ran. Her team won. The pitcher cupped his hurt testicles with a big bag of ice, limping inside, and bent over.

When school was over, Carol went to the principal to tell him her locker was stuck. Dr. Harper sent Gus, the custodian to open Carol's locker and once he finally did, he found a clouded substance on the frame.

"Well, here's your problem," said Gus. "Looks like someone super glued your locker shut."

"Why would they do that?"

"I get this a lot," said Gus. "Newcomers always have their locker super glued. It's a traditional joke."

"Funny," said Carol, sarcastically.

She picked up her books and left.

She remembered that she had to meet with Gabrielle today after school to discuss her schedule working as the new maid. Thoughts raced through her head about what happened today: the lockers, the fire alarms, the sprinklers. Surely something had happened...something...something...

Flexed.

Of course! Something in her mind had flexed. The sprinklers were easy. The fire alarm was harder...it was like lead: heavy. She could just think about something happening and it would happen. But, this happened unexpectedly. Sometimes it happened unexpectedly...like Daddy's murder. She didn't intend to throw the furniture around the house; it was a stressful thing to witness that caused thoughts to race through her head and objects moved.

It was scary.

No! No! It was all tricks of her mind. Just her imagination.

A kid rode up the street. He smiled when he saw Carol walking down Wisteria Lane towards Gabrielle's house. He surely had heard from his brother or sister about Saint Carol. He rode past her and yelled,

"SAINT CAROL! SAINT CAROL!"

Carol let out a startled gasp, dropping all her books and soon the kid flew off his bike like he had hit a large rock; the kid fell on the grass head first (he was wearing a helmet, thank god) and soon the bike flew over him and landed on top of him. The kid put his hands over his face and head...the next thing, he was crying and wailing in pain. His arm was broken. Carol stared, scared. What had just happened?

Carol walked up to Gabrielle's house. It was a big house painted a goldenrod color with a porch, a swing was on it and chimes clinked as the wind passed through them. There were lovely rosebushes, neatly trimmed hedges, and a freshly mowed lawn. The door was white with multiple squares that one could look inside; it was almost like a door and a window combined. The house...she wondered what it looked like inside. She pressed on the doorbell

and it rang. Carol waited. She heard a 'coming' from inside and sounds of little feet running. She straightened her hair, smoothed her clothes out and dusted them off, making sure there wasn't a speck of dirt on them; she wanted to look good for her new employer. While dusting off her clothes, Carol looked up to find Gabrielle in a satin kimono. Carol could smell something sweet...probably some flowery soap.

"Oh, Carol," said Gabrielle, startled. "I forgot you were coming today."

"Is this a bad time?" she asked, feeling uncomfortable.

"No!" she said. "Not at all. I was just taking a bath."

"Perhaps I'll come back some other time."

"No! No!" she said. "I just got out. Please come in."

She invited Carol inside. Carol stared in awe. The foyer was huge with a stairwell that curved in a semi-spiral and photos of Gabrielle hung where the stairway was.

(narcissus would be proud)

On a small table in the center was an elaborate vase filled with flowers and photos of Gabrielle: one of her on her wedding with her husband

(where is he?)

and a few of just her.

(she's a trophy wife)

"Just go to he living room," said Gabrielle. "I'll be with you in a minute."

Carol went into the living room and was struck with awe: everything looked elaborate and expensive. A large painting of the Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus hung above the fire place, a hand carved table stood near the window with chairs that had satin cushions. A sofa with a large TV sitting on a TV stand. Carol wanted to see more of the house...perhaps she would after she got the job. Carol sat down on the sofa, fearing her dirty bottom

would ruin the sofa. She stared around the room in awe. She saw something under the sofa that caught her eye: it was a scrap of black lace. She picked it up and it was a lacy thong. She had seen the girls at both Sacred Heart of Mary and Fairview High when they were changing for gym class. Mother never let her wear those. The words she described them:

(blackened with sin of lust and licentiousness, cravings of the flesh)

It felt damp and smelled of musk. Something was going on. But where was the husband? He seemed to be missing...

Gabrielle came in with a black book and a pen. She saw Carol holding a scrap of lace in her hand, staring curiously.

"What are you doing with my LaPerla?" she asked, hands akimbo.

"Huh?" said Carol; her 'huh' sounded so dumb.

Gabrielle laughed. "My thong, silly," she said. She took it from Carol's hand. "Where did you find it?"

"It was under the couch," she said. "I didn't know what it was."

Gabrielle absent-mindedly stuffed her thong in her robe pocket and sat down next to Carol, flipping through her black book.

"Where's your husband, Mrs. Solis?" she asked.

"Jail," she said like she was telling a joke. This bothered Carol. She said nothing. "So, when do you want to work?"

"Umm..." she began."I would like to have Fridays off. I can work after school. I finish at around 2:30. Weekends you can have me anytime you want."

"Good," said Gabrielle. "Now, here is a list of things for you." She handed her a large envelope. "Inside are a list of to-do, a key to the house, my home and cell phone numbers, a uniform place to buy yourself a uniform. And I guess that's it for today. Pleasure doing business with you, Carol and I'll see you tomorrow after school."

"Thank you," said Carol.

Carol walked down the street and crossed it to Bree's house. She was so happy! She got a job. She would be making big money to go to the college.

"Carol," said Bree. "letter for you." She handed Carol a rather yellow battered looking envelope, addressed to her from St. Dymphna Mental Institution, with drawings of the Sacred Hearts of Mary and Jesus drawn on them.

Carol slowly opened the letter.

_Carol,_

_ Sin! O SIN! How dare you choose to live in a house of sin! Bree is not the right person_

_for you to live with. Allowing her children to a) be gay b) date boys that are of a different color. _

_In the Bible it states: "Thou shalt not layeth with another man." Tell this to her son. As for her _

_daughter, dating a boy that has the color dark as Satan. And piercing your ears! How unspeakable!_

_It states in the Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt not kill". Piercing or tattooing your body is killing_

_your spirit. I forbid you to live with this woman in her house of sin. I demand that you get placed_

_in another home. You have wandered so far from the Path of Righteousness that your sin will come_

_and find you that not even Jesus can help you. Read the Bible, Carol. Pray. Confess your sins so_

_they may be washed away. _

_ Mother_

Carol sighed. She knew a letter like this would come. She took out another piece of paper and wrote:

_Mother,_

_ I love Bree. I will not leave her. I will stay with her, like it or not. _

_ Carol_

Yes. Writing letters are good to those who are away, however, sometimes, no letter can be good.


	4. Episode 4

Episode 4

THE SECOND SHADOW

Starting a new job can be very exciting. We all remember what it is like to start a new job, how exciting it is. The best part about a new job it is the big paycheck you get from your first job.

It was Carol's first day as her job as a maid. She kept her to-do list, key, Gabrielle's digits to call in her apron pocket of her maid uniform: freshly washed, ironed and starched by herself. She looked at her to-do list and started with the laundry. Then, the dusting, the polishing, the cooking, the cleaning...everything was done on the list. She decided to take a break while laundry was drying.

She went to the kitchen and made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, poured herself a glass of milk, grabbed her backpack full of books and settled down on the porch. She took out her black rimmed glasses and her math book, eating her sandwich. It was such a nice day. The bees were buzzing in the colorful flowers, the wind chimes made sweet sounds as the wind blew, and the sun shone brightly that Carol almost drifted off into a dream...

"Hey," said a male voice.

Carol turned around. It was a seventeen-year-old boy. It was the pitcher from her gym class that she had kicked the ball into his balls. He was shirtless, sweating, and muscled. His eyes were hazel and his hair was dark. Carol had to resist from staring at the rippling muscles, protecting the innocence of her eyes. Mother said to always protect her innocence and to refuse to look upon the naked flesh of men.

"Oh, it's you," he said.

Carol turned away from him. She couldn't bear to speak to him after what happened. She didn't know whether to be mad at him for laughing at her or ashamed for kicking the ball into him.

"Mrs. Solis said a new maid was coming," he said. "I didn't know it was you."

Carol said nothing.

"Look," he said. "If it'll make you feel better about what happened yesterday, I forgive you. I deserved it. I shouldn't have laughed at you."

Carol looked up from her books and took her glasses off. She pressed her books tightly into her chest to cover her breasts; Mother always told her boys liked to look at girls' intimate parts, which is why she had her wear big clothes to keep her covered from 'lustful eyes of boys'.  
(whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.)

(go away mother)

"Oh," said Carol. "Well, thank you. If it helps, I'm sorry I kicked the ball into...well, you know where. Did I hurt you?"

"Well, to be honest, yea. You did. I've been sore for almost a day. I don't think I'll be able to have kids."

Carol laughed.

"By the way," said the boy. "I'm John."

"Yes," said Carol. "I know you. You're in my biology class. John Rowland. You sit three seats in front of me. And you're in my gym class."

"Right," he said. "You're Carol White. Is that right?"

Carol nodded. "It's nice to meet you."

"Say, do you want to go hang out sometime?"

Carol smiled. "Oh? You want to hang out with me? Why?"

"Well, I'd like to make friends with you," he said. "This is what people do when they first meet. They hang out. Get to know each other. Have you ever done that?"

"No," said Carol, sadly. "I don't really have any friends."

John felt sympathetic. "Oh. I'm sorry. But, I'd love to hang out with you."

"What do we do?"

"You know, go to the mall, a movie, have lunch together, sit and talk. The usual."

"Oh." Carol smiled. "OK. I'd love to go. I'm off on Fridays."

"Great," he said, smiling. "I'll meet you at the Fairview Mall at 2:00. Meet me in the food court."

"OK. Thank you."

"No problem."

Carol saw Gabrielle's Mazarati driving up Wisteria Lane. "Um...I'd better get back to work. My break is over."

"OK. It was nice to meet you, Carol."

"Nice to meet you too."

"See you tomorrow."

"Same."

She turned to the house, taking one last glance at his green eyes.

"So, Carol," said Bree when Carol came home from work. "How was your first day at work?"

"It was good," said Carol, smiling.

"I can tell. You look so happy."

Carol let out a sigh. She helped Bree cut up vegetables that she was making for dinner.

"Bree, I met someone today."

"Oh?"

"His name is John. He's a gardener for Mrs. Solis. He's so nice."

"John Rowland? Really? Yes, he is a nice boy."

"In fact, he asked me to hang out at the mall on Friday...and I was wondering if I could go."

"Go?" Bree smiled. "Of course, silly. Why would you think that I wouldn't let you go? Just tell me what you're doing and where you're going and whom you're going with and I'll be happy to help."

"Thank you," said Carol.

Carol didn't get any sleep that night. She was so excited about her first time hanging out with a boy.

Friday. Carol put on her nice clothes and Bree dropped her off at the mall, giving her money. She was so excited about what they would do.

Perhaps they would go see a movie. Perhaps he would buy lunch for her and sit and talk together...almost like a couple. She didn't care what they did...she just was excited about her new friend.

She looked at her watch.

2:00.

(he's coming...just be patient)

Carol's eyes scanned the mall, looking for John's dark hair and green eyes that could be seen for miles, the strong muscles in his arms, the friendly smile she couldn't get out of her head. GOD!! He was so handsome!

2:05.

(he's not coming...he's out laughing at you with his friends...no no, stop worrying!)

Carol kept looking for John. Where was he?

(he set you up)

2:10.

A plastic spoon that was on the table began to tremble as if there was an earthquake. Her fury began to build up inside. Veins pulsing, heart racing, sweat pouring down her temples…

2:15.

(he's not coming)

The lug nuts that held the tables in place began to rotate slowly. UGH! They felt so heavy like a 100 lb bell bar. Her pupils dilated to a full 4 centimeters. Her breathing became short and shallow. Her blood pressure was so high that it gave her a headache. The lug nuts rotated faster.

That's when she saw John. She shot up from the table and saw he was with a woman. All the tables and chairs in the food court collapsed and made a loud clang and clash sound. Everybody sitting at tables either fell or jumped up when they felt the seats and tables give way. A trash can fell over, spilling trash everywhere. John and the woman turned around and who should it be...

"Mrs. Solis?" said Carol, shocked.

"Carol!" said Gabrielle. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to meet John. What are you doing here?"

Carol looked at John full of venomous hate. "You should've told me you had a girlfriend!" she yelled. Another trash can fell over. That's when she ran, sobbing. More trash cans fell over.

"Carol, wait!" John called, chasing after her.

Carol kept running, not looking back. Mannequins in stores hurled themselves out of the display windows. John dodged the glass and flying mannequins, scared out of his mind. What was going on? Why was this happening? Mannequins don't just jump out of windows.

"Carol! Carol!" he called her name. He caught up to her. Carol had stopped in front of a Gap store, crying. "Carol, look. It's not what you think."

"Really?" said Carol, sobbing angrily. "What? You just going to run off with Mrs. Solis to play a trick on me, is it?"

John didn't notice the big window of the Gap sort of flickered.

"Carol, let me explain."

"I hate you!" she said quietly. The more she said, 'I hate you', the faster the window flickered. Suddenly, a final note of her symphony of 'I hate yous' she screamed, "I HATE YOU!" Then the big Gap window shattered into pieces, falling only into one spot. Everyone screamed at the sound of the shattering. John's heart leaped out of his chest at the loud shattering sound. What was that? The glass had broke...but no one was there. It almost seemed as if the glass had broken at the sound of Carol's scream.

"Carol?" he said. "Carol, listen, please."

Carol slowly had calmed down. The sound of his voice sounded sincere.

"What?" she said, a little angry.

"Listen, I was just on my way...until I ran into Mrs. Solis. I tried to tell her that I had plans already. I swear. I didn't forget. She was just relentless."

(he did remember)

"You mean..." Carol said. "You're..."

John's face fell. Carol knew about their affair. What was he to do?

"Let's go to Starbucks or something. I'll buy you a drink to calm you down and we can talk."

Carol wiped away her tears; her eyes were blood shot and snot dripped from her nose. "OK," she said.

"John!" said Gabrielle. "What are you doing? Let's go."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Solis. I already have plans. I already promised Carol I'd hang out with her today. Perhaps some other time."

He walked away with Carol, leaving a shocked Gabrielle standing in the middle of the mall with a disaster around her.

THE SWORN TESTIMONY OF SUSAN MAYER

Q: State your name for the record.

A: Susan Mayer.

Q: Where do you live, Mrs. Mayer?

A: On Wisteria Lane.

Q: Do you know a Carol White, Mrs. Mayer?

A: Yes.

Q: Were you at the Fairview Mall, Friday at 2:00 PM on April 27?

A: Yes.

Q: What store were you in at the time?

A: The Gap.

Q: Can you tell us what happened?

A: I was shopping for some new clothes for Julie and myself when I heard this loud metallic crash outside. I looked out and saw that all the tables in the food court had collapsed. All at the same time. It was weird. Nothing like that ever happens. I just sat at those tables to have lunch and they were securely set. Then, I heard more loud, hollow crashes and saw that the trash cans along the mall were knocked over...but, no one was there. That's when I saw Carol White, pushing through people, crying. Then, there were sounds of glass breaking and I saw mannequins hurling themselves out of the display windows as if they were on an invisible string being pulled out the windows. I screamed and ran inside. I didn't want to get cut by the glass. She stopped in front of the Gap window and John Rowland was there.

Q: John Rowland? As in Gabrielle Solis's gardener?

A: Yes.

Q: What were they doing?

A: They were talking. Carol was crying and yelling at John. She said some things...I don't really remember what she said exactly, I just remember her screaming 'I hate you' to him until she screamed it the last time and the big window of the Gap just shattered to pieces. I screamed and ducked for cover, thinking the glass was going to fly everywhere...but it only fell in one spot.

Q: You're saying the Gap window broke all by itself?

A: Yes. Nobody was there. It was as if the glass broke at the sound of Carol's scream.

Q: Thank you for your time, Mrs. Mayer.

Everybody at the mall was panicked. Security guards and policemen came to the scene where the mannequins had hurled themselves out the windows in various stores. Witnesses told stories about the incident of the mall. Carol and John looked out the window at Starbucks at the commotion.

"What do you think?" he said.

"About what?"

"What just happened?"

"I don't know," said Carol. "It's strange. I've never seen mannequins jump out of windows before."

"Me neither. It was almost as if there's some poltergeist in the mall."

Carol shrugged.

"Man, did that scare me. I've never been scared in my life."

"Me neither."

Carol sipped her caramel frappachino.

"So, Carol," said John. His voice soon dropped to a whisper. "How do you know about us? Mrs. Solis and I."

"John, it's very transparent that you're..." Carol paused, embarrassed. "Involved with Mrs. Solis."

John laughed. It was funny how she said 'involved'. It was as if she almost didn't know about the existence of sex.

"Why not just say 'having sex' or 'sleeping with'?" he said.

"Oh." said Carol. "I'm sorry. I just get a little embarrassed saying it."

John's heart still raced in his chest. He was scared that...

"I won't tell anyone," Carol assured him.

"You won't?"

"No. If you want to be with Mrs. Solis, that's fine. We can just be friends. I'll understand if you want to be with her."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

John felt relieved about what his new friend had told him: that his affair with Gabrielle would always be safe.

"Why does she do that?" Carol asked.

"What?"

"You know...sleep with you. Doesn't she have a husband?"

"Yea. But he's in jail. I feel sort of sorry for her. She's lonely and bored. We just hook up, no strings attached."

"Oh." She didn't really understand.

Yes. Having a new job is a wonderful thing: it can teach you new things, befriending co-workers, and the big paycheck for your success. Yet, on the job, unexpected things can happen...anytime...


	5. Episode 5

Episode 5

FORBIDDEN FRIENDS

Rivalry. It is a word about two people in competiton for the same thing. For example, two rival companies may compete for the same buyer. Two rival musicians may compete as of who is the the bloodiest rivalry is two lovers competing for the same person. Like Gabrielle. The minute she saw

Carol and John walking away together at the mall on Friday, the competition for John had already begun. What was it that John saw in Carol? Gabrielle Solis was a hot, Latina sexpot that every woman envied on Wisteria Lane: be it her clothes, her jewelry, her money, or her looks. Carol White, however, was a plain looking, skinny girl that made $300 a week working as a maid, wore only gold studs and big clothes. Gabrielle knew that the first rule of rivalry was to confront the person you and your rival are competing for...

"How DARE you!" she yelled at John while he was working in the yard. "You humiliated me! You left me there standing in the middle of Fairview mall."

"Come on, Mrs. Solis," said John. "I already told you I had plans for today. You just were relentless."

"Let me tell you something, Mister," she said. "I can do things to you that that skinny, goody good can't even spell."

"Carol and I are just friends," he insisted.

"Sure. That's how it starts. Then it's going out, holding hands and all that jazz."

"Really. Carol just wants to be friends. Go ask her."

"I will. And in the future, you are not to talk to that skinny little brat."

John stood there, stunned. He decided to say nothing.

The next rule of rivalry, Gabrielle knew, was to confront your rival. She planned to confront her new rival: Carol White. And in her power, she would stop at nothing to keep her away from her lover...

Carol was in the kitchen with Bree, peeling potatoes while she basted a chicken. Carol's insides burned with questions for Bree. She wasn't like Mother who would just dismiss the subject and say it was all a sin.

"Bree?" she said.

"Yes," shes said.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything, dear."

"Umm...suppose you really like someone, but he's already...attached to someone else?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, at the mall, I saw John with some wo...I mean, girl. I really like John, Bree, but I think he has a girlfriend."

"Oh?"

"I mean, I don't want to ruin anything between them. I think it's safe to be friends, right?"

Bree remembered how her husband, Rex proposed, she still accepted Rex's proposal of marriage, even though she was engaged to Ty Grant and her father didn't like him.

"I guess you could say it's safe to be friends," she said. "If you just assure yourself and his girlfriend. I mean, do you like him?"

"Yes." she said. "Just as a friend. For now."

"Then, just be friends. Who knows? Maybe he'll choose you instead of her. You never know." She paused to sprinkle pepper on the chicken.

"So who is his girlfriend?"

Carol's insides squirmed tightly. She remembered her promise she made to John. She did what any friend would do. She lied.

"I didn't really get a good look at her. I ran away when I saw them."

Carol went to work after school the next day. She couldn't stop thinking about John and how handsome he is. Those green eyes hypnotized her and that smile! Oh! That smile that made her melt like butter. She saw him working outside in the garden, shirtless. She gave him a quiet 'hi' and he replied with a smile. She couldn't help but to stare at him. Those muscles and maleness made her feel lustful. She went to the hall closet to get a Swiffer mop to clean the kitchen floor.

"Hello, Carol," Gabrielle's voice came out of nowhere.

Carol let out a startled yell. "Oh!" she said, clutching her heart. "Mrs. Solis, you scared me."

Gabrielle had an angry face with her hands on her hips. Carol felt uncomfortable...she was probably mad at something Carol did. Perhaps she forgot to do something.

"Mrs. Solis," said Carol. "Is something wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

"Yes, you did," said Gabrielle. "You stole John from me."

"What?!" said Carol. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't act all innocent, missy. I know what you're trying to do."

"I don't really understand what you mean." The vase in the center table slowly began to tremble along with the photos.

"Yes, you do." She took steps forward, forcing Carol into a corner. The vase began to move slowly across the table towards the edge. "You obviously are eyeing John and have feelings for him. So, you're trying to steal him from me. I saw him first! He's mine!"

"I don't have feelings John," Carol said. "We agreed to just be friends."

"I'm sure you have," said Gabrielle, sarcastically. "I know you're lying to me."

"What do you want from me?" Carol asked, uncomfortably. The vase was now at the edge of the table where gravity should've let it fall.

"I want one honest answer from you to one question I have. Do you have feelings for John?" Gabrielle's eyes were slits with black dots.

"No."

Gabrielle didn't seem to believe it.

"Well, I'm keeping an eye on you, missy. I forbid you to go near John at all. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Now, go clean."

Suddenly the vase dropped to the floor with a crash. Gabrielle and Carol let out startled screams.

"I knew that vase was too close to the edge," said Gabrielle. To Carol, who was staring stupidly, "Well, don't just stand there like a scared goat, clean it up!"

Gabrielle watched Carol like a hawk for the next week. She really wanted to work comfortably without her boss breathing down her neck. Even though she wasn't allowed to like John, she was still allowed to look at him, think about him, and perhaps just once talk to him. She would clean the windows, staring out the window, watching John trim the hedges, during her break she would draw pictures of her and John, holding hands with a large heart surrounding them. But Gabrielle seemed to ruin the moments when she wanted to talk to him, yelling her name at the top of her lungs:

"CAROL!"

It was hopeless. Carol would never have a chance to talk to John.

As the weeks went by, Carol came to realize that all Gabrielle and John ever did was fornicate. Mother and Daddy told her that fornication was a dark sin that could send you to Hell. While they prayed at dinner, Mother would always say, "And Lord, forgive me and my husband for fornicating last night."

They did it everywhere in the house: in the bedroom, on the dining room table, the kitchen counter, on the stairs, every place Carol could imagine. Carol hated it, but knew she would just have to put up with it. She hated changing the sheets on the bed, smelling scents of the serpent's saliva (Mother told her that a man had a serpent that tempted the woman and once inside, it spit) and female musk. She wanted to burn every sheet that they touched, even if it cost her $300 a week.

Carol was in the bathroom cleaning it when John and Gabrielle came in the bedroom, sounds of cloth falling to the floor and squeak of mattress springs, unintelligible moans and mutters and rustles of the sheets. Carol got up from her knees and sat on the toilet, listening to the sounds of fornication. Thoughts raced through her head: what did a naked man look like, how did it feel pressed against her skin, how would it feel to be kissed, to be naked in front of a man, what did fornication feel like, what did a man's touch feel like, what thoughts went through his head while he saw her naked or fornicated? Carol began to touch her breasts, the nipples hardening into pink pearls.

(evil oh evil cravings of the flesh)

Mother told her that the Devil always tempted you with filthy fantasies after the Curse of Blood, tempting you with desires of the flesh, making you weak to the temptation like Eve was weak to the Serpent's words to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and she tempted Adam to eat the fruit because he was seduced by her beauty.

(devil, thy name is woman)

Carol's fingers went under her skirt and felt her legs, her smooth thighs, and the wet silk between them. It felt hot and wet there, swollen with desire.

(o john i want you)

Carol knew it was useless. John would never love her. She was a stupid, naive virgin who knew nothing about love or fornication. She stood up, sighing with disappointment. She would never get the man she wanted. She looked at her face in the mirror: the pale, stupid face and dulled hair from being inside for a long time, the dark shadows under her eyes, the thin untouched lips.

Her rage built up inside for the hatred of her face, wishing she was like Gabrielle: so pretty and could have any man she wanted. Her cute-as-a-button nose, her full lips, her curved hips and beautiful breasts. Even though Gabrielle envied Carol, fearing that John may like her, the truth was that Carol envied Gabrielle.

The mirror flickered a bit. She stared at her face, hating it.

(envy and vanity)

The mirror kept flickering faster until there was a silvery split and the mirror shattered.

"What the hell?" said Gabrielle's voice.

"Carol?" said John's voice and he flung open the door. Carol turned around, startled to find him stark naked. Carol turned her eyes away from John quickly to avoid looking at his nakedness.

"What happened? Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," she said, still turned away.

"Carol!" said Gabrielle. She pushed John away from the door and stood there in her satin robe; Carol could see the curve of her breasts. "What the hell was that sound?"

"It was an accident," Carol lied. "I was looking for soap to wash my hands and I closed the mirror too fast."

"That's coming out of your paycheck, is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She went back to work. Thoughts raced through her head about all these incidents happening: first the lockers, the fire alarm and sprinklers, the kid on the bike, the ball, the vase, the mall incident with the tables, trash cans, mannequins, and the Gap window, now it was the mirror. What exactly was going on?

Rivalry. It means different things to different people, but whether it's a friendly rivalry or a fight to the death, the end result is the same. There will be winners and there will be losers. Of course, the trick is to know what battles to fight. You see, no victory, comes without a price.


	6. Episode 6

Episode 6

SECRET POWERS AND DREAMS

Even in the most respectable neighborhood, everyone has a secret. Most secrets are good, some are bad. Secrets are hard to keep because they burden us on how bad or good they are. To tell a secret, you must have a lot of trust in a person to tell your secret. While some secrets are kept and others aren't kept so long. However, there are secrets that are too dangerous to be shared with anyone.

Carol White's secret was she was telekinetic. However, she was not aware that she was. She believed that she was just hallucinating. But, memories of when it first began are blurred but since these incidents that have happened in the past month, Carol was convinced that something was going on.

Carol, in search for answers as of why these strange things were happening, planned to visit the Fairview High School library to find out what exactly was causing these objects to move whenever she got angry, stressed, or scared. She needed to know what was happening to her: was it all just hallucinations? Was it real? Whenever these things happened, they felt real to her.

While sitting in science class, staring at the chalkboard. She heard giggles from the popular girls. She watched as Crystal Barnes, the most popular girl in Fairview High: adored by popular people, cheerleaders and jocks and feared by all unpopular people, pass a note to one of her friends. She read it and looked at Carol and giggled. Carol felt a little flame starting to burn inside; her rage was suppressed by immense pressure. Her brain felt like

it was squeezed in a vice, her veins and arteries pulsed angrily, her heart raced...

She began to see images in color, black and white, sepia, and negative colors. The teacher's voice slowed down, the faces of Crystal and her friends laughing, the girls at Sacred Heart of Mary, the humiliating taunts and jokes played on Saint Carol. Then, the teacher started writing in reverse, over and over again. Darwin's evolution of man. The tampons spilling out from her locker at her feet, the words SAINT CAROL PRAY FOR A MIRACLE in blood red.

An image of a crack splitting...where it was from, she didn't know.

She didn't notice that her metal ruler in her folder was twisting into a spiral.

"Carol?" said her teacher's voice that sounded far away. Then the bell ringing.

Carol blinked her eyes. Everyone was gone. The images were gone. She didn't remember anything that happened in that state

of mind she was in.

(huh?)

"Carol?" said the teacher's voice. She turned her head to find him kneeling right next to her, concerned.

"Huh?" she said.

"You'd better get to your next class," he said.

Carol looked down at her folder and saw her ruler was twisted into a spiral. Her hands trembled.

(what just happened? i saw it in my head. i don't remember this)

She closed her binder and saw a huge crack in the desk.

(i saw this in my head. what happened? i don't remember this either)

On her lunch break, she got a hall pass to visit the library. Once there, she flipped through the card catalogue on the topic about...

(what o what is it?)

What would one call something that happens out of the ordinary? Something that is not supposed to happen?

It hit her: MIRACLES.

She looked up 'Miracles' and found there was a lot of subjects on miracles like:

A MIRACLE A DAY KEEPS THE DEVIL AWAY

JESUS, A MAN OF MIRACLES

MIRACLES BEHIND SCIENCE: POWERS OF THE MIND

She found it! Miracles about the powers of the mind. She wrote down the number of the book and found a rather thin, old beat up book wedged between books about science. She opened it to the table of contents:

INTRODUCTION...2

-Telekinesis and other mind powers

-Telepathy

-Clairvoyance

-Premonition

She opened to the book and looked at the first chapter called TELEKINESIS AND OTHER POWERS OF THE MIND. It read:

Telekinesis is thought to be the ability to move or to cause changes in objects with the force of the mind...

(ah! so that's what it is)

It is thought that telekinesis, or TK is a gene found in girls who hit puberty and/or is triggered by stress or stressful

events...

The words seemed to go on and on. Then, she found something about this power that caught her eye:

TK is a powerful supernatural power that is capable to cause destructive devastation. Research was done on those who had, supposedly, the TK gene. They claimed that they experienced headaches, memory loss, and sometimes insanity because of the shock of moving objects with no explanation that eventually lead up to suicide.

The bell rang. Carol decided to read more about telekinesis after school. She wanted to know more about this power and how she could control it. She checked it out at the check-out desk and ran off to her next class.

After school, Carol had gotten out of gym class and had no time to shower. She decided to shower and dress at Gabrielle's before starting work. She didn't see John working in the yard, figuring he and Gabrielle went to a hotel to fornicate. At least she'd have some privacy so she could shower. She turned on the hot water and stepped under the hot spray. It felt good to wash away all that sweat and smell of body odor from gym class. Dead skin rolling off and down the drain as she washed herself with soap and steam and sweat and smells washed away. Ahhh!! She closed her eyes while she washed her skin with a bar of soap, fantasizing. She slipped into a fantasy. She imagined John. In the shower with her. Naked. His gentle hands washing her body, not missing a single inch of it while she stood there, enjoying his touch. Her, washing his body, feeling all that hard muscle and the steam rising all around them. Then, the kiss they would share...steamy, passionate, and hot. Him touching her and her touching him...oh! It was so wonderful to fantasize about things like that.

(lust and licentiousness, cravings of the flesh)

The hot water soon turned cold that disturbed her fantasy. She turned off the water and heard the rest of the water go down the drain, dying with a gurgle. She reached for a towel...

(huh?)

There was no towel! Oh! How stupid could she be to forget to bring a towel up to the bathroom? The towels were in the hall closet, downstairs.

What could she do? She couldn't run downstairs, fearing someone might look in and see her naked and plus she would drip water on the floor. Gabrielle

didn't like a messy house. It seemed she didn't have much of a choice because she was freezing. She would just have to take the risk of running downstairs.

She dripped water on the floor

(i'll clean that up)

while she ran on her tip toes, looked out the door, since it had a window that the whole neighborhood could see through it, making sure no one was looking and quickly dashed to the hall closet...

"Carol?" said a voice.

Carol saw that John was in the kitchen, putting a band-aid on. Carol let out a startled gasp and ran to the hall closet and shielded her nakedness.

"John," she said. "I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was here. I was just getting a towel."

"Oh," he said.

"I didn't see you in the yard so I figured no one was home."

"Yea," he said. "I just got here a couple of minutes ago. I didn't see you either. I heard the shower running and figured that Mrs. Solis was taking a shower. I cut myself on a rosebush and came in to get a band-aid."

Carol stood there, still embarrassed. A boy had seen her naked after she had vowed that no man would see her body exposed until her wedding night.

"Well, I'm going to get a towel, dry off and get dressed."

"OK," he said.

Carol grabbed a towel and covered her body, her cheeks flushed. John couldn't help but to stare at her.

(she's got a cute butt)

A couple of days later, Carol avoided John. She was still embarrassed about what happened when he saw her naked. She wouldn't even look at him in school or at Gabrielle's when she was working. Amongst the book shelves in the library, reading more about telekinesis, learning more about people who had the TK gene and what it's like to move objects with their minds and so forth.

(so it isn't just me that has it)

She was so deep in reading the book about telekinesis. She really wanted to know more about her secret powers and in hopes of controlling them so nothing unexpected happened like causing accidents or destruction.

"Hey, Carol," said a voice behind her.

Carol's heart leaped out of her chest and she slammed the book shut, pressing it close to her chest. It was John, standing behind her.

"Hi," she said, quietly.

"How have you been?"

"Good, I guess."

"So, what are you reading?"

"Um...it's about...sewing."

"Oh." He was quiet for a while. "Look, have you been avoiding me because I saw you naked?"

"No..." Carol lied.

"Come on, Carol. I know you are. But, listen, it's no big deal."

(yes o yes it is you saw me naked)

"If it'll make you feel better, I thought you looked beautiful."

(oh)

She blushed. No one ever told her that she was beautiful. Yes, she had breasts that were really pretty, still developping and her curves were

finely carved, especially in her hips and legs.

"Thank you," she said, still blushing.

"So, are you doing anything Friday?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"I thought maybe we could go to a movie together. Not as a date, you know, just as friends."

"Oh?" said Carol. Then, her face fell, seeing Gabrielle's angry, jealous face when she threatened her. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Ummm..." Carol said. "Do you think Mrs. Solis will mind?"

"No," he said. "How about we don't tell her?"

"I'm not sure."

"Why not?" Carol lowered her head. She didn't want John to know that she was threatened. "Did she threaten you?"

"You could say that," Carol said.

"Well, don't take it personally." He leaned in forward. "Can I tell you a secret? Don't tell Mrs. Solis I said this."

"I won't tell."

He whispered really quietly. "I think she's jealous of you."

"Huh? Why?"

"I think it's because you're a very nice girl. I think she can't stand the fact that you're a nice girl."

"Do you want to know a secret?"

"Sure."

"I'm actually jealous of her. I know I shouldn't, but I am. She's so pretty...and well," she said sadly. "I'm not."

"Don't say that. You're pretty."

A smile made its way on her face. No one had ever called her 'beautiful' or 'pretty'. It was the nicest thing anyone had said to her.

"Thank you," she said.

"So, do you want to go to the movies Friday night?"

"OK," she said.

"Great. I'll meet you there."

"Great. Thank you."

Carol met up with John at the theater. Together they went to see an action movie. There were exciting scenes of car chases, gun fights, cop and robber,

good guy vs. bad guy, stolen jewels and money, murder, and some fornication of a pretty cop lady with a male cop. This excited Carol. She had never been to a movie before. Mother said the moving pictures were sinful. They enticed lust, murder, greed, and bad language and so forth of sins. Every time there was a car chase or shooting, Carol grabbed John's hand, scared. She apologized.

"No apology needed," he said.

After the movie, the two of them got into his green truck and drove. They talked about the movie.

"I never told this to anyone," Carol said. "But this is actually my first time at a movie."

"Really?" said John. "Where have you been hiding?"

Carol didn't want to admit her life of her past with her religiously fanatical parents who forced her into a broom closet to pray for her 'sins' and forbade her from doing anything fun like a normal teenager would do.

"So, how come you've never been to a movie before?" asked John.

"Actually," said Carol. "There's some things that happened before I came here and I'm still trying to get over some stuff that was really...really..."

"Embarrassing?" asked John.

"Yes. Not that anything bad happened. I was a normal kid and I lived with good parents and all, but something really bad happened in my life that I can't get over. You see, I saw something really scary that I wasn't supposed to see...and since then, I'm trying to recuperate."

"What happened?"

"I saw my mother kill my father, that's all."

"Wow!" his eyes were wide with shock. "That's terrible. What did he do to deserve to die?"

"He was having an affair with his secretary. I found out about the affair several months before my mom killed my dad. Then, she came home one night and found him in bed with his secretary. She got out the butcher knife and stabbed them while they were asleep. Since then, I still remember everything: the blood on the knife and sheets, my father screaming as well as his secretary..." She paused. "I'm sorry. I really can't tell you anymore."

"It must be hard for you what you had to go through: losing your dad and mom and now you're living with a stranger in a part of town you're not familiar with."

"I know," said Carol. She paused for a minute. "But that's not all that happened to me."

"What?"  
"To be honest, I really am not ready to tell you because it's still painful to tell."

"That's fine. I understand."

"But, I will tell you that I'm much happier here at Wisteria Lane."

"That's good to hear." He paused a minute. "Say, let's go to the soccer field. I want to show you something."

"OK."

The two went to the soccer field and lied on the cool grass, looking at the stars; tiny diamonds dotted the velvety dark blue sky.

"Wow!" she said. "It's beautiful."

"Sometimes I just come here, just to think."

"What are you thinking about?"

"The future. What will happen in my life."

"You know what I think about?"

"What?"

"How grateful I am to have a friend like you."

John smiled when he heard this. Carol was the nicest girl he had ever met. Sure, she was weird with big clothes and she was just a maid, nothing like Gabrielle. Carol was different: calm, gentle, kind, and a genuine lady. John had never met a genuine lady before.

Once they reached Wisteria Lane, Carol asked John to park a block away from Bree's house, just in case Gabrielle was looking out the window. He agreed and Carol walked the rest of the way. She was so happy to have a new friend. Someone who she could trust, someone who would listen to her, someone who cared about her feelings. It was nice. Once inside Bree's house, she was about to go upstairs when she heard a light click on. Bree was sitting in the dining room, in her nightgown. Her face was angry.

"Hi, Bree," said Carol.

"Carol White!" she said. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Huh?" she said.

"It's 1 AM! I almost called the police!"

"Relax, Bree, I'm fine. I was with John."

"From now on, in my house, you'll come home at midnight."

"Why? It's not even a school night!" She could feel her rage building up inside. The china in the armoire trembled and clinked against each other.

"But, you have to work tomorrow. You need your sleep."

"But..."

"No 'buts'. Midnight on Fridays is curfew. Is that understood?"

"FINE!" Carol screeched.

Suddenly, the armoire that contained Bree's fine china, glasses, and silverware slid across the floor. Glass and china smashed and silverware jangled in the drawers. Carol ran up the stairs, leaving a frightened Bree standing there, to her room that Bree had cleaned out. She got into her nightgown and climbed into bed.

Andrew and Danielle heard a rather loud noise: the sound of wood sliding across the floor, glass smashing and metal jangling. They ran downstairs in their pajamas to find Bree, white in the face and frozen with terror.

"Mom?" said Danielle. "What was that noise?"

Bree didn't speak. She only stared.

"Why are you moving furniture around at this time of day?" asked Andrew.

"I wasn't," said Bree. "I was arguing with Carol..." her voice trailed off, staring at the armoire. It had moved five inches from where it once stood, showing a large void of the armoire's feet.

Carol saw images: her name and John's name. A shiny tiara on a blue velvet pillow. A sea of cheering and clapping faces in the dark. Then, there was a splash of red that came tumbling from the sky. She felt the warm liquid soaking her, her hands were bloody. Suddenly, the cheers and claps turned into laughter and pointing. Then, the doors shut, people screaming, and huge flames burning everything in its path and objects flew.

Now, she was standing in the middle of Wisteria Lane: it was so beautiful with a blue sky and its colorful flowers, freshly mowed green lawns, white painted fences, children laughing and playing outside, the nice houses that lined Wisteria Lane...then, the sky turned black and the houses were burning, trees stood like ugly black hands, flowers and green grass were black and dead, cars were flipped over, shards of glass were everywhere, telephone wires spit white and purple sparks, there was the smell of death in the air. Carol looked up in the sky and there was Michael the Archangel and his Army of Angels, dressed in war attire, their spears dripping with blood. Then, a wrathful Jesus, dressed in armor, shield and sandals appeared, his gory wounds on his hands, feet and sides bled profusely as he held the spear that pierced His side.

"Wisteria Lane shall burn for their sins!" He cried.

There was a war cry from the Army of Angels.

"!!!" Carol screamed.

Carol sat up in bed, sweating, breathing heavily. It was only a dream. Bree's voice called, "Carol?"

She heard her feet running towards her room. She was in a nightgown with an expression of worry.

"Carol?" she said. "Are you alright?"

"Just a bad dream," she said. "I'm fine."

"It must've been. You were screaming really loud."

"I was?"

"Yes. How about I make you some warm milk? Would you like that?"

"Yes, please."

Yes. We all have secrets. If secrets ever get out, it is almost impossible to repair the damage that has been done. How they get out is because we foolishly trust those that we thought we could trust. Yet, nothing weighs on us more heavily than a secret, especially if your secret is dangerous. It's probably best not to share them at all.


	7. Episode 7

Episode 7

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Practice. It means to do something until it is perfected. Like Bree Van de Kamp, if she messed up a recipe, she could always try again until it was perfect. A musician might practice his instrument until he can play well; an athlete might practice his or her sport until she is the best player on the team.

Bree called her lady friends over while Carol was at school to show her what had happened the night

before.

"Have you been moving furniture again?" said Gabrielle.

"You shouldn't be doing that alone," said Susan. "It's a man's job."

"Girls, I DIDN'T move it!"

"If you didn't move it, then who did?"

"It...it had to be Carol," said Bree. "No one else was in the room except me and Carol."

"OK, Bree," said Gabrielle. "Are you sure you haven't been hallucinating? Because you're acting really weird."

"I'm serious," said Bree. "It was Carol. She was in the room with me when the armoire moved."

"This is weird," said Susan. "Something that you mentioned, Bree, is similar to this." She told the story

about the time at the mall and that Carol was there at the time this incident had happened.

"I heard that up at the high school, someone pulled the fire alarms and the sprinklers all went off," said

Lynette.

"OK," said Gabrielle, uncomfortable. "I think you all have lost your minds."

"No!" they all said.

"What should I do?"

"Get rid of her," said Gabrielle. "They can always find her a new home!"

"Gabby!" said Bree. "I love Carol. She's sweet, helpful, obedient, and she never complains. She's a good kid."

"Well, why don't you ask her what's going on?" suggested Susan. "She trusts you. She'll tell you everything."

While the girls were talking, they heard Carol's footsteps approaching the door.

"SHH!!" said Bree. "She's coming. Just pretend you don't know anything."

Carol opened the door, her arms full of books. Bree smiled like a perfect June Cleaver mother when Carol entered the room.

"Hello, Carol," she said in a friendly voice. "How was school?"

"Good," Carol said.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"I'm just here to drop my books off since I finished my homework early."

"Oh, well that's good to hear."

Carol paused for a moment. "Listen, Bree. I'm sorry I yelled at you last night. I was out of line. I'm not normally like that."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I forgive you."

Carol got an uncomfortable sensation in her stomach. All of the ladies were staring at her.

(they're all talking about me)

"Are you all talking about me?"

"No!" said Lynette, Bree, and Gabrielle while Susan slipped out a 'Yes'. Everyone looked at her angrily for giving it away. "Oops!" Susan said, quietly.

"If you're talking about me, I don't care. You can just tell me. You don't have to lie to me."

"Well..." said Bree. "We..."

"We're just worried about you, Carol," interrupted Susan. "We want to know if you're doing OK."

"I'm fine."

"And you know you can tell us...I mean, me anything."

"OK," said Carol.

"Is there anything you want to tell me, Carol?"

"Not right now," she lied. "Perhaps later. I'm going to be late for work."

"Very well. I'll leave you dinner if you get home late."

"Thanks."

(i'll never tell her about my powers)

Carol sat polishing Gabrielle's expensive silverware. She knew that she couldn't let her powers get out of hand because people might get suspicious if a door just closed by itself, a candle fall off the table, or a window slammed shut when no one was there. So, she decided to practice her powers. Since Gabrielle was at Bree's and probably would go shopping later today and she'd have all the privacy she needed to practice.

She set a spoon down on the glass coffee table and sat down on the sofa. Its silver gleamed in the light of the lamps. She concentrated…concentrated...concentrated...

Her veins were pulsing angrily and hard, her blood pressure was 190/100, her breathing was 16 breaths per minute, short and shallow, her heart rate was 100 beats per minute pounding like a jack hammer, her brain waves, if they were being measured with an encelephogram would be jagged spikes instead of

alpha waves, her pupils dilated to a full 4 centimeters and her temperature dropped to 94 degrees, but she was sweating. She gripped her hands together as if she were praying; tendons and bones rose from beneath her flesh and turned a raw hamburger red color from the pressure of her grip.

Slowly, the spoon slid across the glass table as if it were being pulled by invisible string. Her eyes were slits with black dots. The spoon was heavy like a heavy barbell.

(ugh)

She watched it slide across the table so slowly until it reached the edge where gravity should've let it drop. It wobbled and the handle tapped on the glass table, making tink sounds...until it became louder and louder and the sound became deeper. Now, it hovered over the edge.

Suddenly, it fell with a clink on the floor. Carol let out a sigh of relief and vitals slowly went back to normal. She had a headache and was thirsty.

(just symptoms i'm experiencing)

She wiped the sweat that was dripping on her eyes. She got up to get a drink of water to quench her thirst and closed her eyes to relax her mind.

(thats it clear your mind relax think of nothing slip into a black void)

She picked up the spoon and placed it on the table. She was going to try to lift it now. She concentrated again and her vitals increased again like the first time she made the spoon move. It was so heavy like lifting a barbell being lifted by a weak muscle. Her eyes were burning and felt tired.

The spoon slowly levitated about an inch from the table, now two, now three...floating in thin air.

She didn't notice that the rest of the furniture was floating: the hand carved dining room table, the TV stand, the glass coffee table, the dining room chairs.

"Hello, I'm home!" called Gabrielle's voice.

Carol let out a startled gasp and the spoon hurled itself across the room, nearly hitting Gabrielle and clinked against the wall on the stairs and the furniture crashed to the ground; the TV fell over and cracked.

(shit!)

"What..." Gabrielle yelled. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Umm..." Carol said. "I'm sorry. I tripped on the coffee table and knocked into the TV stand and the TV fell over."

"And the spoon just flew over here, nearly hitting me in the head?"

"Um...It slipped from my hand. I fell forward."

"Well, you are going to buy me a new TV and it's coming out of your pay check."

"Yes, ma'am."

Carol went to confession about her lies and lustful thoughts about John.

The more she practiced, the stronger her powers got and the less unpredictable they were. She could levitate the bed while lying on it, unscrew the tire valve caps off a popular cheerleader or jock's car whenever they made fun of her, twist a ruler into a spiral, or bend a spoon...without feeling tired or getting a headache. It was so easy now. In fact, the more she practiced, the giddier she felt. She was always happy and giggling. Whenever she and John hung out, John was happy to see that Carol

was happier than ever.

Sunday morning was church. Carol put on her skirt and blouse with a crucifix. She went to Bree's church. She sat with Bree, Danielle, and Andrew. Carol sat so still and upright, she listened, didn't fidget. She was the perfect child. People were dressed for church: men in tuxes and nice shirts with ties in spit shined shoes, girls and young women in bright dresses with heels or platform shoes, older women in darker clothes that were longer in either heels or flats. Reverend Sikes was dressed in black with twin crosses pinned on the corners of his collar with white hair on his head. He gave his sermon and Carol listened. It annoyed her that babies cried and kids talked or cried and had to be taken out of the church with disgruntled parents.

While staring at the church goers, she spied a head that was too familiar. It was long and drawn back into a ponytail. It was Mother! She knew it was. She could feel her presence in the very room. She wore scrubs and her head was held up high and her body stiff in defiance like a saint refusing to worship the Roman gods. Carol pulled her hair in front of her face so Mother couldn't see her. She would have a lot to say to her if she saw her. She wanted nothing to do with Mother. She was Bree's girl now.

Slowly, Carol saw Mother's head turn around and stared right at her! Her eyes bored into hers, as though she knew what all of Carol's sins. She prayed that she wouldn't recognize her.

(turn around turn around)

Mother's face had gone gaunt and thin. Her bones in her face stood out, making her look like a skeleton. Her eyes had shadows underneath and her mouth expressed bitterness.

After Mass, Bree saw the mental patients being led to the van with orderlies.

"Oh, Carol!" said Bree. "Who is that lady that was looking at you at church?"

"That's my mother."

"That's your mother? Oh! I'd love to meet her."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," said Carol. "From what I heard, she's still unstable."

"Oh, but Carol, I'd love to know what your mother is like."

"I'm not really sure."

"Just a few minutes. Please!"

Carol reluctantly agreed. Bree and her children went to the van where the patients were being loaded in.

"Excuse me," said Bree. "Mrs. White?"

Regina White turned around and looked at Bree with cold, gray eyes. She looked her up and down, staring at this perfect thing that was taking care of her daughter.

"Yes?" she said, coldly.

"I'm Bree Van de Kamp," said Bree with a warm, confident smile. "I'm taking care of your daughter."

"So, you're her?"

"Yes. I've always wanted to meet you, Mrs. White."

"Woman," she replied. "Your house is full of sin. Letting my daughter wander into the wilderness of sin! You Baptists are the anti-Christ!"

Bree stared in horror. Mrs. White spoke words that she had never even heard of.

Mrs. White stared with contempt at Andrew. "Sodomite!" she spat. "You are an abomination! Repent your sins or you shall suffer the eternal fires of damnation!"

Andrew stared in horror at the words that he had heard. The Congregation had heard Mrs. White's screams.

"Mother!" said Carol. "Stop it!"

To Danielle, "You! You are lustful woman! Lying with those of not your own race. You are prideful and lustful like Jezebel and Salome. Woe to you! Daughter of sin! Child of corruption!"

Danielle face fell into a look of horror and turned red with a mixture of shame and rage.

"STOP IT!" screamed Carol.

The large window in the church shattered at the sound of Carol's scream. The sound of glass shattering sent people screaming and running.

"Witch!" screamed Mrs. White, pointing accusingly at Carol. "Seed of Satan! Spawn of the Devil! The book says 'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.'" Mrs. White leaped towards her daughter, knocking her down on the grass with a white hand clasped around her throat. Carol's eyes bulged until they looked like poached eggs with red veins popping out and tears welling up, rolling to the back of her head, her tongue lolled out as she tried to gasp for the air that was cut off, and neurons popped like balloons inside her head.

"Mommy! Stop!" she screamed in a hoarse ragged voice.

A car from across the street levitated up in the air and crashed down upside-down. People screamed and ran in a panic...everything turned a blood red color...

Suddenly, Carol felt her throat being released and her mother being restrained by two orderlies, holding her by her arms and ankles. Carol coughed violently and gasped like a fish out of water, veins bulging from her temples, her face on the grass, rubbing her throat and sobbing. Her head spun, shooting stars danced in front of her eyes and oxygen filled her lungs. Bree kneeled to help Carol up from the grass.

"I'm very sorry about this, ma'am," said the orderly to Bree. "Mrs. White is a very unstable woman."

"He shall smite the wicked into the fiery pit of damnation..." Mrs. White screamed. "Thou art doomed to suffer the fires of eternal damnation."

The patients filed into the van and drove away. Carol could see Mother pointing accusingly at her, mouthing empty words of accusation.

"Are you OK?" asked Bree.

"Yes," Carol coughed, hoarsely.

"Did you see that, Mom?" said Andrew. "A car across the street just flew up in the air."

Bree saw the car that had crashed to the ground: the glass was shattered in the windows, the windshield, the lights and mirror, the roof was flattened, the tires were up in the air, and the doors had popped open.

Then, she looked at Carol. And that's when she believed.


	8. Episode 8

Episode 8

THE INNOCENCE OF LOVE

Love. It is a wonderful experience that everyone experiences in their life. Love is innocent, love is also blind. Love is a risk that one is willing to take, especially if one lover already has lover, but is falling in love with another.

John and Carol hung out all the time at school to avoid suspicion at Gabrielle's. Together, the two hung out at school like two best friends: they would have lunch together, walk in the halls, talking. They decided to hang out at school and pretend they didn't know each other while they were at work. But, on Friday nights, John would make up excuses to avoid seeing Gabrielle to hang out with Carol.

It wasn't until then that the more they hung out, Carol found herself falling in love with John. She wanted to tell him so much...but, at the same time, she just wanted to be his friend for now. She didn't want to ruin his relationship with Gabrielle. Although, it was never her intention to fall in love with John, only to have him as a friend, since she never had any. But indeed, Carol found herself falling in love with John.

The same happened with John, the more he saw Carol, the more he began to have second thoughts about his current relationship with his older lover and his best friend. He had only been seeing Gabrielle for almost a year. He had been seeing Carol for a month. Carol never rushed anything. She liked talking and listening. She cared about John's feelings and was never threatened by other girls, even Gabrielle. She loved to explore new things and was never afraid to share her feelings or thoughts with John.

What did Mrs. Solis want from him? Just sex. He loved her very much and offered her his heart and she refused it.

"You're a toy. A sweet, dumb toy. You and me: no future." she once said to him. Those words stung him like a thorn in his heart and they echoed in his head.

Then, she came back to him a couple months later, begging him to kiss her and make love to her after her husband roughed her up. Then, it was the pregnancy...a baby that was probably his and she pushed him out of her life again. Now that her husband was in jail, all they ever did was hook up, no strings attached. He was sick of it all!

Carol just wanted a friend. He began to think that it would be a good time to ask Carol to take their relationship to the next step: intimacy.

He wanted Carol to be his girlfriend.

How did it begin? Whenever John fooled around with Gabrielle, he experienced a strange vertigo and heard a voice whisper in his head:

(carol carol carol carol carol)

He thought it was nothing. Soon, the voice got louder and louder. He was hearing in his sleep, when he was awake, when he was eating, when he fooled around with Gabrielle. There were times that he heard her name when Gabrielle moaned his name and other words of lovemaking.

"Oh John that feels carol good! Oh carol John! More carol more carol! Keep carol going! Fuck carol me carol John."

It was driving him crazy. Now, he was beginning to hear Carol's voice while Gabrielle moaned.

(just so you know what you're doing is wrong but it's your choice to make)

When he looked down, he saw Carol's face, smiling at him. He let out a yell of terror and pulled away from Gabrielle.

"I can't do this!" he said. He pushed himself off the bed and started grabbing his clothes.

"What?!" said Gabrielle. "What do you mean?" He took off once he had his pants on. "John! Where are you going? What is wrong with you?"

"Mrs. Solis," he said. "I can't do this anymore!"

"Why?" she said, grabbing his arm.

"It's wrong," he said. He ran out the door.

Gabrielle stood there, stunned and confused. It was wrong? What? It was just harmless sex. Her husband didn't know about the affair. He hasn't known about her affair with John for a year. Where did he get off saying it was wrong?

She saw Carol peeked around the corner, holding a basket of linens that needed ironing. She scurried away, avoiding her mistress' angry eye.

"Did you see anything?" she demanded.

"NO!" she said. "I haven't!"

She sighed. "I just don't get John. What's with him today?"

"What do you mean?" Carol pretended to be curious.

"He ALWAYS wants sex from me. Today, he's very…avoidant."

"Hmph," she said, pretending to not know anything. "Interesting."

While John and Carol were at the movies on Friday, he held her hand. She let him. She liked how it felt: warm and gentle, with calluses from hard labor. Her hand was smooth and soft from reading books. She laid her head on his shoulder. She liked this.

He smelled her: she smelled of baby powder and gardenias. She didn't have gobs and gobs of perfume on like most of the girls. He liked that. How simple she was. He reached a hand out and stroked her hair. His finger brushed the curve of where her jaw met her neck. Her skin was warm satin and he was pleased. He touched her soft cashmere sweater that covered her body.

Carol smelled him. He smelled like soap. He probably just showered after gardening today. She liked holding his hand, laying her head on his shoulder, watching a movie together while he stroked her hair and caressed her skin and touched her sweater.

(so this is what it's like to fall in love)

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the niceness, wanting to drown in it all.

After the movie, they went to his truck and sat in the seat together, silent.

"Carol?" he said.

"Yes?" she said, looking at him with her big brown eyes.

"I want to tell you something," he said.

"OK."

"Well, all these times we've been hanging out together...you know, just as friends, it got me thinking."

"If you don't want to hang out with me anymore, I'll understand." Carol interrupted.

"NO!" he said. "No, no! It's nothing like that. It's just...every time I'm around you, you make me feel different. You...you're so sweet, calm, gentle, and kind. I've never met a girl like you before." He cleared his throat. "So, I've been thinking that we should move our relationship to the next step."

"Huh?"

"Carol," he said. "I'm falling in love with you. I want you to be my girlfriend."

Carol blushed.

"What about Mrs. Solis?" she suddenly said. "Wouldn't you rather be with her than me? I mean...I'm not pretty...like she is."

"Don't say that!" said John. "I don't like it when you put yourself down. I think you're very pretty. About Mrs. Solis, don't worry about her," said John. "I plan on telling her about us sooner or later."

Carol said nothing. She just smiled and smiled. "I was thinking the same thing, John. You know, about how you feel about me. I like you, John. I really do. You're the best friend that I've ever had. You're the only person that's been nice to me."

John smiled. He held her hand.

That's when he pulled her in to kiss her. Carol sat there, shocked at first...then, she relaxed and melted into this kiss.

(oh!)

It was her first kiss ever. It was so soft and loving. She felt like she was in heaven, floating in the sky. He touched her hair, running his fingers through it, massaging her scalp.

When he pulled away, she sat there. She found she didn't like it when he pulled away. It was like the magic had just disappeared.

"Did you like that?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "Could you do it again, please?"

He kissed her again. She enjoyed the whole magic of it. His tongue dived inside the cave of her mouth, wriggling like an eel and exploring. While he was kissing her, his hand went down her back down to her waist, feeling cloths of cashmere and cotton. His hand felt the curve of her hip, the flat of her belly, her ribs, moving slowly up to her breast.

"STOP!" she cried out.

John was startled when she said this and immediately withdrew his hand.

"Sorry," he said.

"It's OK," said Carol. "I just want to tell you to slow down. I...I really want to take my time."

"OK," he said. "That's fine."

Carol was so curious about what went further than the kissing and touching...she wanted to know all about...

(fornication)

What did it feel like? What happened? What thoughts raced through their heads?

"Bree?" Carol said. Bree was drinking a glass of wine and playing solitaire in the dining room.

"Mm?" she said while sipping her wine, looking up at her.

"I need to ask you about..." Carol wanted to say the word, but she knew that all her life she was forbidden to say it. Her parents refused to speak of that word. It was the filth of Satan. She sighed. "I want to know about..."

"What?"

"The Sin of Intercourse."

Bree almost laughed her wine out of her nose. She spit back into the glass.

"What?! Wherever did you hear that word?"

"Mother and Daddy," Caro said, blushing. The word sounded embarrassing.

"Do you mean sex?"

"Yes." Carol said. Then, added suddenly, "Not that I would have it. I'm just really curious about it."

"Didn't your parents have this talk with you, dear?"

"No," she replied sadly.

Bree immediately understood why after what happened at church.

Bree sat with Carol and explained every dirty detail that Mother would've said was in Satan's book of lustful filth: a man had something called a penis and a woman had a vagina, a hole that was three inches below her navel, hidden in a nest of hair. When a man got aroused, his penis got hard while a woman got all wet down below and her breasts swelled up. The man would insert his hard penis into her vagina and rub against the walls causing friction that built up into an intensifying climax called an orgasm. Soon, after the orgasm, all the vitals went back to normal and you had a feeling of satisfaction and exhaustion. Carol was a little disgusted and a little fascinated. She had never known that was the Sin of Intercourse. That was all that happened? Rubbing against one another?

"Oh," said Carol. "Thanks, Bree."

"You're welcome."

Carol wasn't sure she wanted to commit to the act of the Sin of Intercourse. She was only seventeen and still a virgin! John was eighteen. He probably lost his virginity long ago when he was sleeping with Gabrielle. She wanted to ask when he lost his virginity, but she decided to pass up on that question.

As the weeks went by, Carol and John would make out in his car while he heavily touched her and she did in return. She was really shy at first, and then she let herself go and felt as if a wild demon had been let loose inside of her. She would not let him touch her breasts or in between her legs. No! She wanted to take it slow and he was perfectly fine with that. At the same time, she felt her breasts and the core between her legs begging to be touched...

(and lead us not into temptation)

Her resistance was weakening slowly.

At school, Carol and John would be seen walking in the halls: holding hands, sitting together at lunch, outside on the benches when the weather was nice.

The popular, pretty girls, including Crystal Barnes, stared with envy and disgust. What did John exactly see in this big-clothes wearing, religiously weird virgin?

"Hey," said John.

"Hi, John," Carol said, smiling. He gave her a kiss.

"Say, the prom is next Friday. I wanted to ask if you wanted to go with me."

Carol was trembling. John asking her to the prom?

(o my god!)

Then, the image of Gabrielle popped into her head when she threatened her.

"What about Mrs. Solis?" she asked. "Do you think she will mind?"

"Don't worry about her. I'll take care of it. So, what do you say? You going with me or not?"

"Yes!" she said. She kissed him on the cheek. "I'd love to."

Carol could see the look on Crystal Barnes, the most popular girl in her school and her bitchy cheerleader friends staring in disgust. John Rowland, the cutest guy at Fairview High was asking Carol White?!

At Gabrielle's, Carol and John acted like they didn't even know each other. Gabrielle was still confused why her lawn boy toy wouldn't sleep with her. Gabrielle started talking to herself with these paranoid theories that made Carol want to laugh. Carol was folding laundry; standing in the living room when Gabrielle came in from her yoga exercise that she did every afternoon, staring at John and his hot abs and muscular abs all sweaty and dirty while he trimmed the hedges.

"I swear," said Gabrielle. "I think he's seeing someone."

"Oh?" said Carol, pretending to be interested, not looking up from her laundry.

"You go to school with him, right, Carol?"

"Yea. We have biology and gym together."

"Has he been acting...strange lately?"

"Now that you mention it, yes. He has. In biology class today, he told me that he's getting tired of you and that he wants to start dating girls his own age."

"Funny," said Gabrielle. "He always told me that teenage girls bored him. Have you seen him with anyone?"

"He's been going out on a few dates, but so far, nothing serious."

(silly bitch doesn't know it's me)

"I need to find out who he's seeing."

Carol's stomach felt a pit in her stomach, her face flushed hotly, her veins pulsed quickly, sweat trickled down her temples, and her entire body trembled. She didn't want Mrs. Solis to know that John was seeing her. It would be the end of the world for her because she had done something that she did not intend to happen: she stole her employer's boyfriend. It wasn't her intention to steal him away. She just wanted to be friends with John.

"Maybe you shouldn't," Carol said. "John probably wouldn't like it if you followed him."

"Well," said Gabrielle. "If Carlos was cheating on me, I'd find out what whore he was screwing."

"But, you _are_ cheating on him."

Gabrielle shot an icy stare at Carol that made her want to take back what she said.

"Why do you care? You know nothing about my life. You know nothing about men, love, and sex."

"I know men don't like women who try to own them or use them," said Carol, bravely. "They dump them."

Gabrielle scoffed. "Right. Whatever." She went upstairs; this was Carol's chance to sneak out of the house and talk to John. She waited until she was out of earshot and quietly opened the front door and tip toed across the lawn. John was trimming the hedges.

"Hey!" he said.

"Shhhh!" Carol said. She took him by the arm and pulled him to the garage to talk to him in private so that Gabrielle wouldn't see them together.

"What?" he said. "Why are you acting so sneaky?"

"John," said Carol. "I think Mrs. Solis is starting to catch on. She's going to follow you when we go out on Friday."

"So?" said John. "What do we have to hide?"

"John, if Mrs. Solis finds out that we're going out, she'll have my head."

"Stop worrying about her. I'm going to tell her that I'm done with her. After being with you, Carol, you've taught me so much about having a relationship. With her, she just treats me like a boy toy: something that's just there to bang all the time. You, you're different. You listen, communicate, and understand...that's why I like you Carol. So, don't be afraid of her. She won't do anything. I'll tell her that I was the one who wanted you."

Carol smiled, but she still had an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. "I have to go. Mrs. Solis doesn't know I'm gone."

"OK. I'll see you Friday."

That Friday night, Carol met John at the movies, wearing a scarf on her head and sunglasses. She didn't want Gabrielle to see her with John. She stood by the theater entrance, waiting for John while people walked by, staring at Carol and her ridiculous disguise. Once she saw John, she approached him. John stared at her in her disguise and started to laugh.

"What are you doing?" he said.

"Hiding," she said.

"You look absolutely ridiculous in that," he said, smiling. "Take it off and stop being silly."

Carol reluctantly took it off. "Sorry. It's just that I'm scared of Mrs. Solis."

"I told you to not worry about her. I'll take care of it."

They went into the movie theater. They sat and held hands; she rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and enjoying the niceness of it all. John smelled her; she smelled like baby powder and gardenias; no gobs and gobs of perfume like most of the girls he went to school with or Mrs. Solis. His arm went around her shoulders and touched her soft cashmere sweater that she was wearing, feeling the structures of her shoulders. His hand inched towards the column of her neck and he stroked the soft skin; it was already warm. Carol closed her eyes at John's touch. She wanted to die from the niceness of it. She stroked the top of his hand that she was holding with her thumb. Being with John was like seeing paradise.

After the movie, they walked to his truck. It was only 8:00. They had lots of time. Carol got into his truck and sat in the front seat.

"John?" she said.

"Yea?" he replied.

"I want to do it."

"Do what?"

Carol got an odd look of embarrassment. She wanted to tell him she wanted to commit the Sin of Intercourse, fornicate with him, that thing he did with Gabrielle all the time.

"I want to give you my virginity," she replied.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Remember, it's a final sale: no refunds, no exchanges."

"I'm very sure."

"You don't feel like I'm rushing you to have sex with me, are you?"

"No. I just want to do it. I feel like I'm ready to do it."

"If you're sure, then you're sure." He started the car. "We'll go to my place. My roommates are out for the night."

"OK," said Carol. She was stroking the condom package that she had stolen from Gabrielle's nightstand in her purse while they drove to his apartment.

Once they were there, John led her to the back to his bedroom. Carol was trembling nervously. She had never done it before, yet she wondered how it felt. She felt so ready. She sat down on the bed and he sat next to her. Before she could say John's name, he already was kissing her. It got heavier and heavier as well as the touching. Carol didn't care anymore what Mother said about going to hell for committing the Sin of Intercourse; she was away from her, she couldn't stop her. She had the most wonderful boy that loved her very much and she was going to give him her virginity that she vowed long ago to give it to a man she would marry. It didn't matter anymore. She was free from Mother's reign of terror.

(you're dead to me mother you hear me dead you're dead)

John took her hand and kissed the palm, working his way down towards her wrist. He rolled up the sleeve of her sweater and kissed the slate blue vein with hot lips; it flickered wildly and Carol felt herself grow weaker and weaker; her inner demons were trying to escape from their cage. His mouth returned to hers and he touched her body from her waists up to her breasts. She didn't stop him this time, enjoying the round globes of her breasts being held in John's hands. Her resistance to temptation had collapsed completely the second his hands touched her breasts. Before she could say John's name and tell him what she wanted; his hand had already wandered underneath her heavy cashmere sweater up her back, feeling the knobs of her backbone and the structures of her ribs. Her skin was already sweaty and hot. He kissed and licked her neck, feeling the jugular veins pulse passionately beneath his lips and tongue. Carol closed her eyes and let herself melt into such bliss: his kisses were so good and seductively sweet. She felt her bra fall loose at her shoulders; he had unclasped it and hadn't felt it. It was almost like a ghost had done it.

His hand searched beneath her sweater for a breast and found it. He cupped it in his hand and felt it; it was smooth and soft and a nipple hardened at his touch. Her sweater was already pulled over her head and was tossed on the floor along with her white cotton bra. She sat there on his bed, naked from the waist up, shivering while his thumb played with her nipple; she closed her eyes, enjoying his touch.

"God! You're beautiful," he whispered on her neck.

Carol dared herself to touch John beneath his shirt. She felt up his back, feeling the hot skin, moving towards his front feeling his muscular chest and abs. Carol had never touched a man before; she wondered what he was thinking when she touched him.

"Do you like this?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "Your touch is so magical."

She released her inner demons from their cage and dared herself to nibble his earlobe and heard him groan with sensuality. She had already pulled his shirt off and necked him, running her fingernails over his body. Then, it was Carol's heavy skirt that was unbuttoned and tossed on the floor and next was John's pants, also tossed along with her sweater and button up shirt. He wore boxer shorts and she in white cotton plain Jane panties.

John kissed her breasts and took a nipple into his mouth while his hand fondled the twin; Carol gasped when she felt his wet mouth on her breast. Oh! It made her feel...feel...oh...

(sinful)

She felt that her plain white panties were soaking wet from her excitement. Mother told her that when a woman got wet, it was the devil who visited her at night, seducing her in her sleep and put filthy fantasies in her dreams, conjuring up the lust juices so that Satan could drink them. She didn't care what Mother had told her; she remembered what Bree told her about when a woman got aroused…

(swollen breasts swollen vagina wet and juicy)

John laid her down on the bed and kissed her flat belly and kissed her legs. Carol laid on the bed, weak from ecstasy and passion in her, enjoying it all. She felt his fingers push aside the crux of her panties and touch her most intimate parts that had never been touched before. Carol trembled and squirmed a bit as he touched the swollen rosebud, spreading the silky wetness from her untouched entrance to the rosebud. He kept doing this until she was breathing harder, faster and moans escaped her throat. Then, when his finger entered her entrance, she gasped. He pressed sensuously against her inner walls; she was hot, tight, soft and wet.

"John?" she said.

"Mm?" he said while he was kissing her belly button.

"Teach me."

"Teach you what?"

"Teach me what you like, John. Show me what I should do."

He took her hand and led it to his shorts, sliding it down towards something that Carol had never felt before: it was hot, hard, and throbbing with a soft, silky top.

(the serpent)

He wrapped her fingers around it; Carol's hand trembled and she gave it a squeeze without thinking and John was already biting his bottom lip.

"Did I do it right?"

"Yes, of course," he replied. "It feels really good."

Carol caressed the soft top part of the something that was in John's shorts; she found she liked touching the soft part of it. He guided her hand downwards until she touched what felt like a fuzzy sac that was drawn inward; it was hot and light in her hand.

"Be gentle here," he said. "You don't want to peel me off the ceiling, don't you?"

"I don't?"

"No. My boys are very delicate, so handle gently."

She did. She held them like a baby bird, fondled them with the pads of her fingers and massaged them. John had his eyes closed and a groan escaped from his throat. John pulled off her panties delicately and tossed them aside on the floor. His shorts followed after that. He spread her legs with his hands...

"WAIT!" she said.

"What?"

"I forgot something." She leaned to get her purse and pulled out the stolen condom she had gotten from Gabrielle's nightstand. "We might need this."

"Good thinking," he said.

He sheathed himself in a condom while Carol watched: John's serpent was huge, swollen, veins showed through the thin skin and the tip was a ruby color. Again he spread her legs and settled himself; Carol felt his serpent press into the soft folds of her delicate flower. Carol was trembling. John stopped.

"Are you nervous?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm scared."

"I'll be gentle and I'll go slowly. If it hurts, just grip my back and hold on."

"OK," she said.

Gently he eased himself inside her and oh! Carol gasped in a combination of pleasure and pain as the thin silk of her virginity tore as John's serpent penetrated her. She dug her fingernails into his back. Slowly she felt rubbing inside her against the walls. Carol thrust her hips in the same rhythm as John's thrusts. The pain had gone away and was followed by pleasure. The friction started slow and began to heat up until it was so hot that Carol felt her womb leaping inside of her! She let out a cry of pleasure as she felt her womb jumping inside her while John let out a couple of grunts and trembled stiffly. He collapsed on top of Carol, breathing heavily as well as she was.

The whole room smelled of sex: sweat, semen, and feminine scents. The two lovers laid in his bed, resting while their vitals went back to normal...

But what they didn't know was that Gabrielle was listening at John's door. She had followed him and felt rage pulse through her tiny body.

Yes, love is innocent. It remains long after we're gone, burned into our memories. We all search for love.

Once you have found love, it is impossible to let it go. But some of us--after we've found it--wish we hadn't.


End file.
